Monday, July 5, 2010

As part of its plans to double up the number of rooms across the country, Mumbai-based Sarovar Hotels Ltd. is setting up two more hotel properties in Gujarat by December 2010. At an investment of Rs 70 crore, the company is coming up with a 5-star business hotel, Park Plaza, in Ahmedabad and 3-star property, Sarovar Portico, in Rajkot.

“Hospitality industry in Gujarat is mostly driven by business, followed by tourism. Therefore, we are consciously setting up properties to cater this segment. For instance, Park Plaza, which is being developed by a Delhi-based realtor, will be a dedicated 5-star budget hotel in Ahmedabad with almost 100 rooms. Meanwhile, we are also scouting for land in cities like Vadodara and Surat for our other hotel brands,” said Anil Madhok, managing director of Sarovar Hotels.

While the company will be doubling the number of hotels in Gujarat to 200 by year end, Sarovar Hotels will continue to expand its operations for the next couple of years. “Even in others parts of country, we are rapidly opening up new properties. In the next few months, hotels in Jaipur, Chennai and Chandigarh will be opened soon,” Madhok said.

From 45 hotels under brands like Park Plaza and Park Inn, under its tie up with Carlson Hotels, and Sarovar Portico, Sarovar Premium and Hometel, Sarovar Hotels is aiming to expand to 75 in the next couple of years.

“By the end of the next calendar year, we hope to expand from current 3,300 rooms to over 6,000 rooms across the country,” Madhok added.

While the new hotel properties are being developed and managed by Sarovar Hotels itself, the company also managed properties for other developers where it has earned revenue in terms of fees of Rs 700 crore for the financial year 2009-10.